Filler wad for shotgun shells



Feb. 11, 1964 J. E. LYON FILLER WAD FOR sHo'rGUN SHELLS Filed April 11, 1963 m m? w i I F INVENTOR.

JAMES E. LYON M ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,120,807 FILLER WAD FOR SHOTGUN SHELLS James E. Lyon, 1303 Gary Blvd., Brunswick, Ohio Filed Apr. 11, 1963, Ser. No. 272,364 2 Claims. (Cl. 102-42) This invention relates generally to shotgun shells, but has reference more particularly to a novel filler wad for use in such shells.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a shell of the character described, embodying a filler wad, the effective height of which can be easily and quickly adjusted to compensate for varying heights of base wads and powder charges.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shell of the character described, embodying a filler wad which has a desired cushioning effect when the shell is fired.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shell of the character described, embodying a filler wad having novel gas-sealing characteristics or properties.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel construction of filler wad which is adaptable for use in various conventional shotgun shells, and thus has a wide field of use.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a shotgun shell embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the shell, taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view of a portion of FIG. 2, on an enlarged scale, and showing the position of the piston of the filler wad, immediately after firing, and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view, on a greatly enlarged scale, of a portion of FIG. 2, showing the interlocking of the piston with the cup or liner of the filler wad.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 of the drawings, there is disclosed a shotgun shell comprising a shell body 1, a base or head 2, a primer 3, a base wad 4, a powder charge 5, a shot charge 6, and a filler wad, generally designated by reference numeral 7, which is interposed between the powder charge 5 and the shot charge 6.

With the exception of the filler wad 7, the parts which have been described are of a more or less conventional nature, being of the general type disclosed in Kidder Patent No. 3,022,734.

The filler wad 7, which is preferably made of a material, such as plastic, consists of two parts, one of which is an inverted cup or liner 3 having a top 9 and an annular lip or flange 10, which extends beyond the top 9, and the other of which is a hollow piston 11, which is telescopically slidable in the cup or liner 8.

The cup or liner 8 is provided on its interior surface with a series of uniformly spaced annular ribs 12, and the piston 11 is provided on its exterior surface with a single annular groove 13, which is adapted to receive one or the other of the ribs 12, as will be presently explained.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the piston 11 is so disposed that the lowermost of the ribs 12 is snapped into the groove 13 of the piston, and the shell is ready to be fired.

When the shell is fired, the explosion of the powder charge 5 has the initial effect of causing the piston 11 to move upwardly in the cup or liner 8 until the piston has moved into contiguity with the top 9, as shown in FIG. 3, after which the cup and piston will be ejected from the shell body 1, causing the shot charge 6 to be expelled from the shell body.

The impact of the exploding powder is sufficient to cause the piston 11 to move past all of the ribs 12.

The annular lip or flange 10 is effective to prevent the shot 6 from lodging between the top of the filler wad 7 and the barrel of the gun, and thus prevents leading" of the gun barrel. The lip or flange 10 also aids in sealing of the exploding gases within the shell body and gun barrel, since the shot forces the lip radially outwardly against the inner wall of the shell body and the barrel of the gun, upon firing.

When the shell is fired, and the piston 11 is forced upwardly in the cup or liner 8, the air within the cup is compressed, creating a desirable cushioning effect. This compression of the air also causes the wall of the cup to be expanded slightly, thereby creating a desirable gas seal between the filler Wad and inner wall of the shell body.

The ribs 12 are effective at all times to hold the piston 11 in place when the shell is being loaded.

it may be emphasized, at this point, that different kinds or types of powder, used for the powder charge 5, require different heights of powder charges. This necessitates different heights of filler wads, if the shot charges and base wads are not changed. If the base wads are changed, that is to say, if a high base wad is substituted for that shown, different heights of filler wads are necessary.

In order to compensate for such changes in the types of powder used, or for changes in the height of the base wad, the effective height of the filler wad may be changed by merely pushing the piston 11 manually up into the cup 8 to align the groove 13 with any desired one of the ribs 12, and when so aligned, the rib will automatically snap into the groove. The filler wad 7 is thus a self-adjusting filler wad, which can be quickly adjusted to any desired height.

It is thus seen that I have provided a shotgun shell embodying a filler wad, the effective height of which can be quickly and easily adjusted to compensate for varying heights of base wads and powder charges; which has a desired cushioning effect, when the shell is fired, and which has novel and improved gas-sealing characteristics or properties.

It is also seen that I have provided a novel construction of filler wad, which is adaptable for use in various conventional shotgun shells, and has a wide field of use.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention, herewith shown and described, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes may be made in the shape, size and arrangement of parts thereof, without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A shotgun shell comprising a shell body, a head, a primer, a base wad, a powder charge, a shot charge, and a filler interposed between said charges, said filler consisting of an inverted hollow cup-shaped member of thin plastic material having a top and a cylindrical wall adjacent said shell body, and a piston of thin plastic material telescopically slidable in said member, said cylindrical wall of said member provided on its interior wall adjacent the lower end of said wall with a series of uniformly-spaced annular ribs having rounded inner faces, and said piston comprising a disc-like element and a depending annular peripheral flange formed integrally therewith, said flange provided in its exterior wall with an annular groove adapted to receive any one of said ribs, whereby to enable the effective height of said filler to be varied by a snapping of the rib in the groove to temporarily lock the piston in a selected position, whereby to permit variations in heights of powder charges, shot charges, or base wads, said piston, upon firing of the shell being slidably movable out of locking engagement with said ribs and past said ribs and into contignity with the top of said member, said movement of said piston compressing the air within said member and causing said cylindrical wall to expand sufliciently to create a gas seal between said Wall and the inner wall of the shell body.

2. A shot gun shell, as defined in claim 11, in which said cylindrical Wall of said member is extended upwardly beyond said top to provide an annular lip which is effective to prevent the shot from lodging between the said filler and the barrel of a gun in which the shell is fired.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,582,125 Holmes Jan. 8, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 12,537 Great Britain of 1889 264,498 Great Britain June 2, 1927 1,186,659 France Feb. 23, 1959 1,187,370 France Mar. 2, 1959 

1. A SHOTGUN SHELL COMPRISING A SHELL BODY, A HEAD, A PRIMER, A BASE WAD, A POWDER CHARGE, A SHOT CHARGE, AND A FILLER INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID CHARGES, SAID FILLER CONSISTING OF AN INVERTED HOLLOW CUP-SHAPED MEMBER OF THIN PLASTIC MATERIAL HAVING A TOP AND A CYLINDRICAL WALL ADJACENT SAID SHELL BODY, AND A PISTON OF THIN PLASTIC MATERIAL TELESCOPICALLY SLIDABLE IN SAID MEMBER, SAID CYLINDRICAL WALL OF SAID MEMBER PROVIDED ON ITS INTERIOR WALL ADJACENT THE LOWER END OF SAID WALL WITH A SERIES OF UNIFORMLY-SPACED ANNULAR RIBS HAVING ROUNDED INNER FACES, AND SAID PISTON COMPRISING A DISC-LIKE ELEMENT AND A DEPENDING ANNULAR PERIPHERAL FLANGE FORMED INTEGRALLY THEREWITH, SAID FLANGE PROVIDED IN ITS EXTERIOR WALL WITH AN ANNULAR GROOVE ADAPTED TO RECEIVE ANY ONE OF SAID RIBS, WHEREBY TO ENABLE THE EFFECTIVE HEIGHT OF SAID FILLER TO BE VARIED BY A SNAPPING OF THE RIB IN THE GROOVE TO TEMPORARILY LOCK THE PISTON IN A SELECTED POSITION, WHEREBY TO PERMIT VARIATIONS IN HEIGHTS OF POWDER CHARGES, SHOT CHARGES, OR BASE WADS, SAID PISTON, UPON FIRING OF THE SHELL BEING SLIDABLY MOVABLE OUT OF LOCKING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID RIBS AND PAST SAID RIBS AND INTO CONTIGUITY WITH THE TOP OF SAID MEMBER, SAID MOVEMENT OF SAID PISTON COMPRESSING THE AIR WITHIN SAID MEMBER AND CAUSING SAID CYLINDRICAL WALL TO EXPAND SUFFICIENTLY TO CREATE A GAS SEAL BETWEEN SAID WALL AND THE INNER WALL OF THE SHELL BODY. 